Who's on First?: Conflict of Interest
“Avoid any interest, activity or influence which might be
in conflict with the practitioner’s obligation to act in the best
interests of the client or the profession.”
--NCBTMB Code of Ethics
“promote his/her business with integrity and avoid potential and actual conflicts of interest”
--NCBTMB Standard of Practice IV f
Some clients may become addicted to massage. If the therapist suspects a frequent customer is enduring financial strain (the client’s occupation does not reflect monies being spent, for example), the therapist should wean the client. The therapist can say "Let me make you an appointment for" some date farther away than the client's normal return date.
The therapist should be careful to use lotion or other products to which the client is not allergic.
The selling of products besides providing massage should be reviewed. The products should be appropriate to the client. The possibility the client may be interested simply in massage and no other commerce should be considered. The Alberta Registered Massage Therapists Society has a proposed ethic which would seem to suggest the sale of products is unethical: "refrain from using ... professional credentials to promote or discuss commercial products or services."
The therapist will generally treat information received from a client as confidential (see chapter 9). If the therapist knows one client knows, or is friends, with another client, the therapist should exercise especial diligence not to accidentally gossip or reveal any confidences one friend disclosed.
In the relative intimacy of the therapist-client treatment, some clients may begin to feel a warmth for the therapist. While it is apparently possible to date a client, it is clear from the NCBTMB Standards of Practice that in order to engage in a sexual relationship with a client, the therapist must cease to see the client professionally and thereafter wait six months.
The Alberta Registered Massage Therapists Society had proposed ethics saying it was a conflict of interest for a massage therapist to use "position, authority or privileged information to Obtain an improper benefit personally, directly or indirectly, or Obtain an improper benefit for a friend, relative or associate." Certainly coercing a benefit from a client by revealing the status of client or other confidential information is a conflict of interest.